Firefall by Moonlight
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Rogelio Bernal
Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)
On certain dates in February, an elusive firefall
can be spotted at sunset in
Yosemite
National Park, when the weather cooperates
and the direction to the setting Sun is just right.
Often photographed from vantage points below, at the right moment the
park's seasonal Horsetail Fall is isolated in the shadows of the
steep walls of El Capitan.
Then, still illuminated with rays of sunlight reflected by the angled
rockface directly behind the flow, the waterfall
briefly takes on a dramatic, fiery appearance.
The Horsetail firefall is more rarely photographed at moonset under a
starry night sky,
though.
Even more elusive by moonlight, the firefall effect can also be seen
when skies are clear and a bright Moon sets at the right direction
along the western horizon.
Skies were clear and stars were shining for this
well-planned photograph of the
Horsetail firefall lit by a gibbous Moon setting in the
early morning hours of May 9.